She Let Herself Go
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Written for Nix 1978 on Facebook. Every once in a while, a girl has to let herself go. TWOSHOT
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I hope you are enjoying these stories. A big thank you to everyone still reading, reviewing, alerting and favoriting. We truly appreciate hearing from each one of you.**

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**This story is written for Nix 1978. Her prompts were: mirrors, a hot day, and honey**.

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**She Let Herself Go**

**Chapter One**

Pulling her damp hair off the nape of her neck, Emily Prentiss glared at the man sitting behind the steering wheel of the SUV, squinting as sunlight reflected off the mirrors of the vehicle. "I'm going to _kill _you."

"Pull your panties out of your ass, Princess," Derek Morgan replied calmly as he reached into the center console and snagged his silver cell phone. "It's not that bad."

"Are you kidding me?" Emily retorted, her normally serene voice rising an octave, the resulting echo bouncing wildly inside the confined space. "It's the hottest day of the summer in freaking Texas, Derek, and you and I are stranded on the side of the rode with only the sagebrush and honey bees to keep us company! I promise you, it _is_ that bad!"

Sighing heavily as he winced at the shriek, Morgan slowly turned to face her. "And screaming will make it better, how?"

Eyes widening, she debated pulling her Glock on him and putting him out of her misery, but, it was hot and the body would stink, so she settled on a low growl before shoving open the SUV's door and slamming it with enough force to rattle the glass windows. Damn it, she'd _told_ him to get gas when they'd passed the rundown station on the side of the road an hour ago. Had he listened to reason, though?

Of course not! That would have made sense, she thought, stomping around the SUV as the sun beat down on her, watching out of her peripheral vision as Derek spoke to someone on his cell phone.

Slowing unfurling his own cramped body from the vehicle, Derek watched his companion closely. "Was that really necessary?" he asked, his lips curling into a slow grin, the one he used when he'd stepped in an especially sticky situation. It was the one he used on deranged unsubs and maniacal technical analysts, and while he had found it to be especially effective, he'd never imagined needing to pull it out for the self-contained Emily Prentiss.

Damn, the times, they were a'changing.

"My choices were either slam the door or shoot you," Emily retorted with a glare, snaking a hand under her long hair and pulling it up off her neck. "Which would you have preferred? And before you answer, bear in mind that the second option is still on the table," she warned darkly.

Chuckling as he approached her with a loose hipped gait, he grinned again. "Damn, you get prickly when the temperature rises. Didn't you do time in Egypt with your mom?"

"It was Iran and the embassy was air-conditioned," Emily snapped, wiping the back of her hand against her sweaty brow. It was at least a one hundred and ten degrees out here in the middle of nowhere. And she was stuck with possibly the most irritating and infuriating member of her team.

It was obvious that God was having a good chuckle at her expense at that moment.

Laughing at her petulance, Derek leaned back against the hood of their vehicle and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "You want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked slowly, shaking his head as he watched his companion pace in front of him.

Sucking in a deep breath of the heavy humid air of their environment into her lungs, Emily reminded herself that there were qualities that she admired about the man in front of her. However, his ability to put a positive spin on a shitty situation wasn't one of them. "Talk, Derek," Emily demanded as she turned her body toward the balmy breeze skittering through the brush. It was a heated blast, but at least it was air, and beggars couldn't be choosers, now could they?

"I talked to Garcia. Our unsub is in custody," Derek informed her calmly, his teeth gleaming as he smiled.

"You mean that we're lost in the middle of Texas searching for a witness that we didn't need?" Emily asked slowly, blowing a sweaty strand of hair off her face. "That's just freaking priceless," she snarled, throwing both arms up in the air in a decidedly un-Emily-like gesture.

"In Hotch's defense, he didn't _know_ we didn't need him when he sent us in pursuit," Morgan pointed out evenly, biting back an amused laugh as she stomped her feet against the dusty road.

Nearly choking on the dust she'd stirred up with her temper tantrum, Emily managed to say, "If that's the good news, what's the bad?"

"Uhmmm, you sure you wanna hear that now?" Derek asked, reluctant to share information that might put his life at further risk. After all, he prided himself on his self-preservation skills…and he wasn't about to take a chance that the woman in front of him would decide to make good on her earlier threat. "Maybe we should…"

"Derek," Emily said, her voice clearly indicating a threat to his continued safety if he hedged much longer.

"It'll probably be a couple of hours before we're rescued," he replied with a negligent shrug. "No biggie."

"No biggie?" Emily echoed incredulously, blinking at him in horrified fascination. Obviously, the heat was far worse than she had imagined and she was suffering from a sudden onset case of heat exhaustion. Did that particular affliction come with hallucinations? Surely she was imagining this whole escapade…wasn't she?

"We've got bottles of water and snacks in the car," Morgan replied, jerking his chin behind him, completing oblivious to her internal drama. "We'll be fine."

"We're melting!" Emily yelled, pulling the cotton shirt she was wearing away from her skin dramatically.

"Man, I never imagined that you could be a drama queen," Morgan snorted with amusement, eyeing the woman in front of him appreciatively. The weather had molded her skirt and shirt to her like a second skin, accentuating curves that he hadn't realized she had until now.

Her steps halted immediately, one foot still an inch from the heated ground. Narrowing her eyes at him dangerously, Emily lowered her voice, "Excuse me?"

"You're acting like a _girl_," Morgan accused lightly, enjoying the flash in her expressive eyes.

"I _am_ a girl," Emily ground out through clenched teeth.

"Yeah," Morgan drawled slowly, his eyes roaming up and down her trim body, "You are. Sometimes, I forget that."

Emily's nose wrinkled as it dawned on her just how Derek was now looking at her. "Okay," she said with barely concealed venom, dropping her hand to her hips, "You can stop looking at me like I'm an all you can eat diner anytime now."

Derek grinned wickedly. "Babe, in case you missed it, I _am_ a guy."

"If you don't put your eyes back in your head, you'll have a hard time proving that to future floozies everywhere," Emily returned sweetly, dropping her gaze down his body as she flexed her ankle, her intent well telegraphed.

"Ouch," Derek winced, barely resisting the urge to cover himself from what he was certain was a verifiable threat to his manhood. "C'mon," he said, pushing away from the SUV with his booted foot. "Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I hope you are enjoying these stories. A big thank you to everyone still reading, reviewing, alerting and favoriting. We truly appreciate hearing from each one of you. Swing by Chit Chat on Author's Corner and visit with author of the week, ficdirectory.**

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**This story is written for Nix 1978. Her prompts were: mirrors, a hot day, and honey.**

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**She Let Herself Go**

**Chapter Two**

"Go where?" Emily inquired on a groan, hesitantly following the muscular man as he hoofed it up the road. "We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Yeah," Derek agreed easily over his shoulder, "but, believe it or not, nowhere has a clear blue pond. I spotted it as we passed. See?" he said, pointing off in the distance.

Following his sure footsteps as he cut across the field, Emily shook her head. "You aren't serious?" she asked, catching her breath as he pulled his black tee shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground beside him.

He shrugged, his well-defined shoulders rising and falling fluidly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Her mouth went dry as he shucked the dark denim Levi's he wore, revealing long, toned legs and a butt barely contained by the red boxers he wore. Holy, God, he was one good looking male. Jaw dropping as he reached out to push the silky boxers over his hips, she yelled, "Don't you dare, Morgan!"

Turning, Derek's grin widened. "Just kiddin', Princess. I wouldn't wanna offend those delicate sensibilities of yours," he remarked, wading into the water until he was hip deep.

Rolling her eyes as she watched him splash around, Emily let one foot drift into the clear blue pool. Damn, it felt _good. _Cool and wet, the water lapped at her feverish skin.

"C'mon, Prentiss," Morgan chided, scooping the clear water and splashing it over his bare chest. "Be bad. Let yourself go and do something completely unprofessional," he challenged with a wide grin.

Pressing her lips together, she considered his invitation. The water beckoned, promising restorative energy she desperately needed. Too bad it was infested with one very wicked looking shark.

"Awww, you're not scared, are you?" Morgan goaded mercilessly, floating on his back, his ankles kicking slightly. "Balk, balk, balk!" he crowed to the sky, "Emily's a scaredy cat!"

"What are you? Twelve?" she grumbled, giving into temptation and kicking off her low heels. Pausing with her hands on the waistband of her skirt, she ordered, "Turn around, D."

"Like I haven't seen you in a bra and panties before," he snorted, slapping at the waving water. "We _have_ shared a locker room before," he reminded her.

"I'm not here to give you a strip show," Emily retorted, wrinkling her nose as she fought the urge to throw a nearby rock at his overly inflated head. "Turn around!"

Rolling onto his stomach in the water with an irritated growl, Emily watched as Derek faced in the opposite direction and quickly shimmied out of her clothing. Splashing her way into the water, she sighed as the water lapped over her shoulders. "Oh, God," she moaned.

Turning quickly, Derek grinned. "Many more moans like that and I'm gonna think you're doing something under the water besides swimming."

"Pervert," Emily muttered without opening her eyes even though her lips twitched with amusement. Truth be known, she was rather fond of Derek's flirty sense of humor. He had a knack for putting women at ease, and she wasn't exactly the exception to the rule.

Wading through the water, Derek watched Emily's face slowly relax as the cool water took the bite out of the heat. "You know, you need to do that more often," he said lightly.

Lifting her head slightly, Emily opened her eyes. "What?" she asked curiously.

"Let down your proverbial hair. Relaxed looks good on you," he said easily, dropping lower into the cool water. "Lately, you've been wearing uptight all too well."

Shifting her gaze away from him guiltily, she knew he had a point. "I guess I have been a little strained since I came back," she admitted softly, suddenly very interested in the small green leaf that floated on the surface near her hand.

"A little?" Derek coughed. "I think that's an understatement. You've been killing yourself trying to prove you're the same woman you were before you left. Except, you aren't, Em."

Eyes widening as he addressed the white elephant that had been standing in the room for months, she swallowed involuntarily. "I just want things back to normal. With everybody. Everything's changed," she lamented with a grimace.

"Normal's changed, babe," Derek sighed, unable to deny the obvious truth. "Stressing about it won't make things any easier."

"Easy for you to say," Emily mumbled as she dragged her arms through the water. "You aren't the one that feels like she betrayed her best friends."

"Nah, I'm just one of the friends that thought he'd buried his partner," Derek returned evenly. "If I can get past that, I think you should be willing to hear me out, don't you?"

This time when her cheeks flushed it didn't have anything to do with the soaring temperature. "You're right, D. I'm sorry," Emily apologized.

"You say that a lot…that you're sorry," Morgan noted gently, shaking his head as he took a watery step toward her. "You need to stop. What happened hurt, Em. There is no denying that. But, you don't have anything to be sorry _for_. You stayed alive. You did what you did because you didn't want anybody else to get hurt. I get that. It took me a long time, but I got it. The others will, too. You've just gotta chill and give it time. Give _yourself_ permission to let it go."

"When did you get so wise?" Emily asked with a faint smile, dropping her shoulders back as she let herself relax into the cool water.

"About the time that figured out I could either waste time being pissed at you or I could celebrate the fact that my friend lived through hell and was around to tell the tale," Derek replied truthfully. "Seemed like a better use of my energy to celebrate. And let's be real here. This face," he added as he grinned, twirling his finger around his face, "looks much sexier without the worry lines."

"You're impossible," Emily laughed, splashing his face with water and then jumping quickly when she saw his hand move toward the surface.

"_See_! Not everything has changed after all," he teased, splashing her back and grinning widely at her shriek, certain he had heard that very noise just a few minutes earlier.

Except this time….it was a shriek of delight.

And there, under the shade of the trees in a pond in the middle of nowhere, Texas, Emily Prentiss began to let herself go.

**finis**


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